We recently published an article in which we looked at civil servants’ pay scales. In that article, we also presented, among other things, the allowances to which civil servants are legally entitled. However, some allowances are also compulsory in the private sector and we will look at these in this article.
The weekend work allowance applies to Saturday and Sunday. This applies regardless of the employee’s work schedule. He is therefore entitled to the weekend allowance even if he works a long and a short week and this is not an exceptional situation.
The amount of the weekend allowance should be at least 10% of the employee’s average earnings . However, it is possible to negotiate a different minimum amount (even lower) and method of determining the supplement, but there must be fair reasons for doing so.
If you work abroad (for a Czech employer), where the usual days off work fall on days other than Saturday and Sunday, then the weekend premium may be set on these corresponding days.
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If you work on a public holiday, you are entitled to compensatory time off for that day. Your employer must give you this no later than the end of the third calendar month following the public holiday or at another pre-agreed time. Instead of compensatory time off, you can agree with your employer on an additional payment equal to your average earnings for the holiday worked. You are also entitled to this additional pay if the holiday falls on your normal working day.
So how does it work in practice? Labour Day falls on a Wednesday this year. Let’s say you work in a warehouse where work normally runs on holidays. So you work that day and are therefore entitled to a day off in lieu, which you can take until the end of July, or you can get double pay for that day worked. However, if you work in a shop that is closed on a public holiday, for example, you are entitled to be paid as if you were working normally, even if you spend the holiday at home.
The employee is entitled to the supplement only on public holidays. These include:
Tip: You are not entitled to compensatory time off only on public holidays. Find out which occasions you are entitled to paid time off from your employer.
First of all, it should be said that your employer cannot order you to work overtime as he or she pleases. It should only be imposed for serious reasons and cannot exceed 150 hours per calendar year or 8 hours per week. These limits can only be exceeded if your employer agrees with you and even then, overtime must not exceed 416 hours per calendar year.
Tip: When your employer can order you to work overtime is discussed in detail in our article.
For overtime, you are entitled to a minimum of 25% of your average earnings or compensatory time off corresponding to the time worked. This leave must be granted within 3 calendar months or within an agreed period of time from the time of the overtime.
TheLabour Code makes it possible to negotiate pay taking into account any overtime work. However, the extent of this overtime must be specified. In this case, you will not receive extra pay for overtime work. However, the limit of 150 hours of work per calendar year also applies here. If there is more overtime, you are entitled to an additional payment.
Tip: What do you deserve for working overtime? How much is overtime allowed? And what can you do if your employer doesn’t recognize overtime? Find out in our article.
Night work falls under the Labour Code between 22:00 and 6:00. The amount of the night work premium should be at least 10% of the employee’s average earnings. It is possible to negotiate a different minimum amount (even lower) and method of determining the supplement, but there must be fair reasons for this.
Tip: Read what employers must ensure when working at night.
The definition of a harsh working environment is: “An environment in which the performance of work involves extreme difficulty resulting from exposure to an aggravating influence and measures to reduce or eliminate it.” Aggravating influences include:
Tip: Tens of thousands of people deal with this every year: what am I entitled to at work when it’s over 30 degrees outside? And do I even have to go to work? Unfortunately, the legislation is very unclear on this issue and most people are left to rely on newspaper articles. So read on for a summary of what employees are entitled to when the heat hits.
For these types of work, you are entitled to an allowance equivalent to at least 10 % of the basic rate of theminimum wage for the period. The basic rate of the minimum wage is set at CZK 18,900 for 2024. The supplement must therefore be at least CZK 1 890.
On-call duty is not a supplement as such, but in practice it is similar to it. We will therefore at least mention it in this article. On-call duty is a period of time when you are not at work, but you must be ready to go to work at any time (so you must be at home, for example, and not on a trip 100 km away from your place of work). It cannot be ordered unilaterally, you must first agree it in writing with your employer. You are then entitled to at least 10% of your average earnings for the time you spend on call.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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